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The three shabu dealers reportedly linked to remaining members of the Dawlah Islamiya, entrapped in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur on March 27, 2026, are now in the custody of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Photo courtesy of Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY — Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested three more shabu peddlers, who were remitting earnings to remnants of the now-defunct Dawlah Islamiya terror group, in an entrapment operation in Barangay Poblacion, Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur, on Friday, March 27.
Local executives told reporters on Sunday that the suspects, Allan Manalasal, Tohamie Benito, and Basadurin Japal, are now in the custody of the PDEA-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and will be prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Officials of intelligence units under the Army’s 6th Infantry Division confirmed on Sunday, March 29, that all three suspects have links to remaining members of the Dawlah Islamiya, who allowed them to peddle shabu and marijuana in the peripheries of their hideouts in exchange for money
Manalasal, Benito, and Japal were arrested by combined PDEA-BARMM agents and policemen from various units of the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region after handing over P34,000 worth of shabu during a trade-off in Sitio Gawad Kalinga, Barangay Poblacion, Datu Paglas, one of the 24 towns in Maguindanao del Sur.
Edgar Jubay, director of PDEA-BARMM, told reporters on Sunday that local executives, Muslim religious leaders, and barangay officials in Datu Paglas were instrumental in the entrapment operation that led to the arrest of the three suspects, who are now detained and awaiting prosecution in court.
Jubay said it was the residents of Datu Paglas and their community leaders who first reported the suspects’ illegal activities to PDEA-BARMM, enabling agents to plan an entrapment operation that resulted in the confiscation of five grams of shabu, worth P34,000, a .45-caliber pistol, and mobile phones containing the numbers of their accomplices operating in other barangays of Datu Paglas and nearby towns.
More than 30 of the 68 shabu and marijuana dealers entrapped in separate PDEA-BARMM and police operations since 2022 in Cotabato City and the adjoining provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Maguindanao del Sur in the Bangsamoro region have been linked to remaining members of the now non-functional Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, who have not yet surrendered to the 6th ID, which runs a regional reconciliation program for violent religious extremists.
